Video circulating on social media shows a massive explosion rocking central Beirut - shattering windows, knocking down doors and shaking buildings several hundred feet away.
Lebanon’s health minister told journalists a ship carrying fireworks had blown up in the port, though the size of the blast heard across the country raised suspicions it might have resulted from a rocket strike or detonation of explosives - deliberate or otherwise.
The source of the blast has not been confirmed.